


Insert Tennis Pun Here

by Remy_Writes5



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tennis, Drinking, Fluff, M/M, Mostly Background Wolfstar, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Sirius playing matchmaker, Tennis, Wimbledon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 06:56:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Remy_Writes5/pseuds/Remy_Writes5
Summary: James is out to win Wimbledon when he gets saddled with Regulus Black as a roommate at the hotel.
Relationships: Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 212





	Insert Tennis Pun Here

James Potter felt like a king as his cab pulled up at the hotel. There was a flurry of action as he got out of the car with cameras going off and people rushing towards him. He stopped to sign a few autographs and take a few selfies on his way inside, trying not to get mobbed from the crowd. He was currently seeded third in the world for men’s tennis and it was Wimbledon. James knew all of England was rooting for him and it made him puff up with pride.

He stopped at the front desk to get is room key only to find the Black brothers already there taking up space with their ridiculous amounts of luggage. Regulus Black was arguing with the person at the front desk while Sirius lounged beside him looking amused. When he noticed James he perked up.

“Oi James!” Sirius said, pulling James into a big hug. “You gonna win this year or what?”

“You know it,” James said with a grin. He had known Sirius for years, and they’d always been friends, when they could find the time to see each other outside of practices and matches and all the other bollocks. Sirius had originally done men’s singles until Reg had gotten just as good. They were now an unstoppable doubles team. “What about you two?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “We’re already off to a bad start,” he explained, glancing over at his brother. “Reg is superstitious and they put us in a room with an eight in the number and he thinks it’s unlucky. He thinks it’s a bad omen so he’s trying to get us to switch rooms but obviously the hotel is pretty booked up.”

James chuckled. “Well, I’d offer you my room instead but there’s just the one bed. It’s a queen sized bed but it might be a tight squeeze,” he joked, noticing that Regulus had stopped arguing with the front desk person and was now paying attention to them.

“Say, how about you let just Reg bunk in with you?” Sirius said, his eyes flashing with something dangerous. “I don’t care about the number eight and Remus is coming anyway and I don’t think he remembered to get a room for himself. So Reg can go in with you and Remus can stay with me. There, isn’t that sorted nicely?”

James blinked a few times and looked over at Regulus, whose jaw had dropped as he looked at his brother in complete bafflement. “Sirius, we have things to go over. I couldn’t possibly – “

“Sure you can!” Sirius said, clapping Reg on the back. “We’ll see loads of each other.” Sirius grabbed the room key and shot James a wink. “Besides, we can’t have you starting off Wimbledon out of sorts, now can we?”

“I’m going to kill you,” Reg growled under his breath. If he had meant for James not to hear it he had failed spectacularly.

Sirius just beamed at both of them and hauled up his alarming amount of luggage. “See you two later!” he said, waving after them as he headed towards the lifts.

Regulus deflated like a balloon the moment Sirius was gone. James cleared his throat and stepped up to the counter. “Checking in for James Potter.”

“Yes, of course sir,” the front desk person said with a tentative smile, wary of Regulus still being there. “You’re in room 634. Will you be needing one key or two?”

James looked over at Regulus who merely shrugged in response. “Two,” he said dejectedly. When he got the room keys he passed one to Reg silently. Despite being good friends with Sirius, James didn’t know Regulus that well. He’d faced off against Sirius a number of times all over the world but for a long time Reg was just the pale skinny kid on the sidelines.

They made their way up to the room without saying a word and James wished he could find a way to break the silence so everything could stop being so bloody awkward. It was bad enough that they were going to be sharing a bed for two weeks, considering neither of them were likely to go out in the first round, but James doesn’t even know how to break the ice with Reg.

“I’m sorry about this,” Reg said, shuffling uncomfortably next to James. “If I had known my little outburst was going to inconvenience you I would have kept my mouth shut.”

James punched Reg lightly on the arm. “Don’t be stupid,” he said good-naturedly. “Why the number eight though?”

Regulus shrugged. “I’ve just had some bad things happen associated with the number eight. I don’t like it.”

James nodded and didn’t push for any more details. The younger Black brother had always been a bit closed off. James had always figured there was a reason for it but he wasn’t going to pry and he doubted Reg would be forthcoming with the information.

The lift doors finally dinged open and James let Reg go first. They wound their way through the corridor until they got the room that would be theirs for the foreseeable future. James couldn’t help thinking that a room with the number eight would be a better omen than this. Still, he soldiered his way into the room. Too late to turn back now.

***

James’ alarm went off at six a.m. and he turned over to find Reg already gone for the morning. He was a little surprised that Reg had gotten up so early considering the ungodly hour James had set his own alarm for. Was sharing a bed with him really so bad that Reg had shorted himself some much needed sleep just to get out of there?

James went and showered to get ready for his early morning practice. Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head as he walked along the practice courts, letting his racket rest against his back and itch a small spot he couldn’t reach. He was barely paying attention and just nearly missed getting hit by a ball going well past 200 kph. He jumped and looked in the direction the ball had come. Regulus looked a bit alarmed at how close he had come to hitting James with his powerful serve.

“If you wanted the room to yourself all you had to do was ask,” James teased, walking over while twirling his racket in his hands. “No need to kill me over it.”

Regulus rolled his eyes. “That wouldn’t have killed you,” he reasoned, grabbing his water bottle off the side and squirting some into his mouth. He must have been up for a while because he’d already worked up quite a sweat. James found himself following Reg’s finger as he brought it up to his lips and wiped away a droplet of water that had missed his mouth. _Buggering hell, _James thought to himself as he realized he might just fancy the guy sharing his bed.

“Wouldn’t have been pretty though,” James managed to shoot back after his brain came back online.

Regulus grinned. “As if anyone would dare to say you weren’t pretty,” he joked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Would you dare to say it?” James asked, swiping Reg’s water from him and taking a long drink.

Reg scowled at him and yanked his bottle back. It caused some of the water to dribble down James front. “Not everything in this world belongs to you, Potter.”

James blinked a few times in confusion. “I was just joking, Reg –“

“Well don’t.” Reg turned on his heel and went back to practice his serve. James was almost off the court when another ball went whistling by his head, just narrowly missing him. He glanced back and saw Reg bouncing another ball nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.

***

James had just finished his first match and he’d won – straight sets. He almost felt bad for annihilating the boy he’d been up against but he was out to win. No mercy. A fucking Englishmen was going to win Wimbledon if James Potter had anything to say about it.

When he got back to the room he felt good. He’d forgotten all about his little spat with Reg the other morning and pulled him into a big hug. Reg let out a startled noise as he was embraced against his will. “James!” he said with reservation. “What are you doing?”

“I feel good,” James said, breaking the hug and smiling at Regulus. “I want to celebrate. Your first match isn’t for two days, yeah? So we can go out and get absolutely pissed tonight and you’ll be over it in time for your match!”

Regulus turned his face away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, James.”

“It’s a great idea!” James said, not letting Reg kill his enthusiasm.

Regulus either realized it was a lost cause or had been protesting too much because he gave in. They ended up at a local pub and tried their best to blend in so they weren’t constantly bombarded by people. Sirius and Remus had joined them with the four grown men crammed into a booth. James was drinking heavily, matching Sirius shot for shot, their competitive spirit getting the best of them. Regulus and Remus merely watched, nursing their own lagers and not indulging. 

“So, things going swimmingly for you two?” Sirius asked, his words slurring together slightly. “Getting all cozy?”

James wrinkled his nose in confusion. “No Reg won’t even cuddle me at night. He’s terribly selfish that way.”

Regulus snorted beside James. “I don’t recall any offers of cuddles.”

“That’s because you bolted before I could,” James told him in annoyance. “And then you tried to kill me with a tennis ball.”

Sirius laughed. “Nearly got you with his serve, eh? It’s a killer!”

“Twice!” James told him, holding up two fingers flipping them around so he was showing Reg the V. “Wanker tried to kill me twice and all because I borrowed some water!”

“Borrowed?” Regulus said, raising an eyebrow. “That implies you were going to give it back.”

“Maybe I would have,” James said, giving Reg a wink.

“Okay,” Remus said, interrupting them. “I think it might be time to call it a night. If Sirius has anything more to drink he’s going to be tough to get back to the hotel.”

Regulus nodded as if he knew as much from experience. He went up to the bar to settle their tab and James followed him. “Let me,” James said, trying to fish his wallet out of his trousers but his fingers wouldn’t cooperate. “Reg, get my wallet out.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Please!” James begged, drawing the word out in a whine. “Wanna treat you.”

Regulus sighed and delicately reached into James’ pocket and got out his wallet. “Happy?” he asked, holding it in front of James’ face.

“Extremely,” James said, curling his fingers around Reg’s wrist, which normally wouldn’t have been necessary except that there were three wrists and three hands and James wasn’t sure which one was holding his wallet. He plucked it out of the real hand and got out some bills, throwing them down on the bar with a jovial slap.

Regulus shook his head and double checked how much James had put down. Realizing James had put down too much, he took some of it back and placed it into James’ wallet for him. James beamed at him, swaying slightly on his feet, and pulled Reg into another hug. “You’re great,” he mumbled, nuzzling his face against Reg’s neck. Reg stiffened for a moment in his arms and then slowly brought his hands up and rested them on James’ back, rubbing soothing circles.

“Come on,” Regulus said softly. “Let’s go home.”

James liked the sound of that very much.

***

By the end of the first week it felt like James and Reg were dancing around each other. They’d spend a whole night in watching old James Bond movies and eating a sinful amount of food from room service and then the next day Reg would disappear down to the courts for the entire day and wouldn’t come back until James was already asleep.

He knew they were both busy with matches, it was Wimbledon after all, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was more that Reg was avoiding him. So James decided to go watch Sirius and Regulus’ match to support them. Of course they’d made it into the finals, no one had any doubts that they would. They’d be going up against Rosier and Avery from Germany, fierce competitors who were known to fight dirty.

James snuck into the back of the press conference held after their win in the semi-finals. They were asked the usual sort of questions – if they were nervous about the finals and what they thought of Rosier and Avery. Then someone threw a curveball.

“So Regulus, any truth to the rumor that you’re sharing a room with James Potter?”

James froze, his entire body going tense, waiting with bated breath to hear Reg’s answer. “I am,” Regulus responded evenly. “As tennis players were traveling quite a lot. It means all sorts of accommodations and living arrangements.”

James puffed out a breath. It was a perfectly logical answer to the question and not untrue.

The reported didn’t let up though. “But why James Potter?”

Regulus glowered at the reporter. “Why not James Potter?” he shot back challengingly.

“Is there something going on between you two?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Regulus responded snootily. It only made the reporter dig in more.

“There’s been quite a few sighting of the two of you out together recently as well as pictures of the two of you on Potter’s Instagram. Are you dating?” The room exploded into people chattering to each other, fueling the rumor mill.

Regulus brought his fist down on the table and the room went silent. “As of right now James and I are just friends,” Regulus said through gritted teeth. “And if that changes it will be no one’s business except mine and James bloody Potter’s. Okay?” Regulus sat back in his chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Now if anyone has any questions about _tennis _I’d be happy to answer them.”

“Or you can ask me about my love life!” Sirius offered cheerfully, making everyone in the room laugh, breaking the tension. Everyone already knew Sirius was with Remus and had been for five years. Their love affair was hardly newsworthy.

James slipped out the back door and went up the room. He sat on the bed and waited what felt like forever for Regulus to return. He stood up when he heard the key in the door and watched Reg slip in quietly. He pressed himself back against the door and stared at James. “Any chance you haven’t heard the news yet?”

“It’s worse than that,” James said with a grin, taking a few steps towards Reg. “I was actually there. I was standing in the back.”

“Oh fucking hell,” Reg said, his face going red with embarrassment. It was unbelievably endearing.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” James said softly. He brought his hand up and cupped Reg’s cheek, feeling the heat rising to his skin from his blush. “James bloody Potter, eh?”

Regulus laughed breathlessly. “The reporter caught me off guard. I’m sorry if I made trouble for you.”

James smirked. “Well my twitter and instagram have been blowing up for a while now. But the only person whose opinion I want on the matter is right here.”

James watched Reg’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed thickly. “I’ve had a crush on you since I was eighteen. I-I tried to chat you up and it went horribly wrong. I made some dumb comment about your footwork, trying in the worst way possible to flirt. That’s why eight is my unlucky number.”

James laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. Regulus looked scandalized and that only made James laugh harder. “Fuck’s sake, Reg, you were trying to neg me?” he asked, wiping away tears of mirth. “Am I to take your trying to kill me with your serve a declaration of love then, since that’s apparently how you communicate?”

“Wanker,” Regulus growled at him.

James closed the space between them and captured Reg’s lips. “You absolutely gorgeous, _ridiculous _human being,” he murmured in between kisses. He swallowed up each of the breathy little moans that tried to escape out of Reg’s lips. “When you win Wimbledon you can announce at the press conference that you’re dating James Bloody Potter.”

Regulus’ kiss swollen lips stretched into a smile. “And if Sirius and I don’t win?”

“Then I’ll just have to announce it when I win,” James said with a smug grin.

“Tosser.”

***

Sirius and Regulus did win the men’s doubles and Regulus got to announce to the world that he was dating James.

The only thing that made it better was when James won Wimbledon and Regulus came out to celebrate on the court. They had just called the last volley in the line and that James had won when James got an armful of Regulus Black. He’d just won Wimbledon and he was snogging Reg in front of Queen and country. Nothing could be better than that. 


End file.
